Sketch
by Semleges
Summary: What does Merlin do in his free time? It turns out he's not what people think, and that isn't referring to his magic. Right now, a oneshot, but I'm probably going to add more.


Disclaimer: Yes, I own Merlin. Seriously. That's why I'm on , writing stories about the show.

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Oneshot

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Sketch

Merlin paused, staring at the castle in concentration. Finally, he carefully connected the last two lines, and held the piece of parchment up. Yes, it definitely looked like the castle. Grinning, his eyes flashed gold, and the grass stains and smudges disappeared. He still couldn't believe that Arthur had given him the day off.

"Drawing again, Mer?"

Merlin didn't bother looking up; he could tell who it was. "Yes, Jordyc, I am. What are you doing out here? I thought Sir Rolidel had ordered you to polish his armor?"

Jordyc was Sir Rolidel's personal servant, like Merlin was Arthur's manservant. "That was true. Up until about midday."

Merlin tilted his head. "What happened?"

Jordyc smirked. "Prince Arthur lost it."

Merlin smiled. "I thought he was already crazy."

Jordyc laughed. "Lost the armor, of course." Merlin's grin grew. "You're going to laugh at him later, of course." Jordyc noted. Merlin nodded. "Of course. What do you think of this sketch, by the way?" Jordyc looked at it briefly. "Marvelous." "You didn't even look!" Merlin protested.

"I don't have too to know that it's good. Really, Merlin, you should sell your work—you'd make a lot of money. Merlin shook his head in disbelief. "What? Sell my work?" He said, getting up from the ground. "Never!" Jordyc laughed. "Alright then. Come and show it to Lily, at least—maybe she'll give us some leftovers from their majesties' lunch." Lily was a cook in the royal kitchen, and coddled the two every chance she got—until they asked for food.

***

"Merlin! Jordyc! I swear, you've gotten thinner since I've last seen you!" Lily said cheerfully, enveloping the two in a hug. Merlin grinned. "That was yesterday, Lily. Does that mean you'll give us something to eat?" Lily swung her wooden spoon at them both, smiling. "Now boys, you know I'm not goin' ta do that." Jordyc snatched the drawing from Merlin's hands. "Not even for this masterpiece! Starving artists need food, I tell you!"

Merlin laughed, trying to get the sketch back. "The only artist I see around here is me—why should you get any?"

Lily gazed at the castle drawing in admiration. "Say, that's some pretty nice work you've got there, Merlin." Jordyc neatly stole the drawing from her hands. "So, does that mean we get a meal or not?" Lily considered dramatically, tapping the spoon against her cheek. "Well, I suppose we can't let Merlin's muse die out...so...here you go, Merlin." She said, tossing him a freshly baked loaf of bread. Jordyc gaped at her. "But I'm his muse! Why d'you think he draws so much? To get away from me!" He waved the drawing in front of her. "Don't you think that the inspiration of this deserves a treat too?"

Lily snorted. "Sure, although I don't see how I could feed the dreams of the men who built Camelot." Jordyc looked at her in horror, while Merlin looked on in amusement. "I meant _me!_ _Me!_" Lily sighed, smiling. "Alrighty then. Here you go. And don't be expecting any favors from me for a while, got it?" She handed another fresh loaf of bread to Jordyc, who nodded quickly. "Yes ma'am. Absolutely, ma'am." Merlin fought back his laughter as they started to leave. Lily called after them, "You know Merlin, you should show these to the Prince someday. He won't believe his eyes." Merlin laughed. "He won't believe _me_."

***

Wandering into a courtyard, they sat down, leaning against a pillar to eat their trophies. Jordyc sighed in contentment. "Ah, a hard day's earnings is always a welcome treat, eh, Merlin?" Merlin choked on a piece of bread, laughing, "You didn't do a hard day's work!" "Neither did you!" Merlin rolled his eyes. Jordyc suddenly sat up. "Look at who it is!"

On the other side of the courtyard was a bedraggled-looking Arthur. Merlin grinned, and whispered to Jordyc, "Uther must have been furious." "No doubt." Jordyc whispered back. Arthur came closer, and glared at the two obviously cheerful servants. "What are you two smiling about?" He asked dangerously, then looked at Jordyc in confusion. "Who are you, anyway?" Merlin opened his mouth. "Doesn't matter," Arthur continued dismissively. "Merlin. Go tidy my room, it hasn't been cleaned in a while." Merlin stared at him in disbelief. "You gave me a day off!" "Too bad!" Arthur snapped at him. "Now go—and give me that!" He snarled, snatching the bread from Merlin's hands. Merlin rolled his eyes, and begrudgingly trudged off to Arthur's room.

Arthur began consuming the bread furiously, ripping off the part Merlin was eating from and throwing it on the ground. "Don't you have something to do?" He looked at Jordyc accusingly. Jordyc simply smiled. "I did, but you kindly relieved me of my duties." Arthur looked at him in bewilderment. "What? When?" Jordyc's smile widened. "When you lost Sir Rolidel's armor!" Arthur crushed the remaining bread in a fist, darkening. "Well...well—go do something useful, then!" He growled in irritation. Jordyc stifled a laugh as he got up, ambling away with his hands in his pockets.

Arthur stood there for a moment, and kicked a piece of parchment in irritation. Looking down, he picked it up and smoothed it out. Raising an eyebrow, he found himself looking at a drawing of Camelot in admiration. _Whoever drew this—he was good._ Perhaps the artist had left his signature...there it was, in the bottom right hand corner. Arthur looked at the scrawl closer. _Annoyingly messy handwriting—strange, it looks similar to--_

Arthur's eyes widened, and he blinked rapidly, looking at the name to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. No—he was right. But-but he couldn't be. There was no way he could be that good. He looked at the name again. That scrawl was unmistakable.

_Merlin_

ooooOOOOMOOOOoooo

What do you think? I'm thinking of leaving this as a oneshot, although there's plenty of room for it to be more. You tell me whether there should be another chapter or not.

(The drawing fell out of Merlin's pocket when he sat down, that's why Arthur found it)


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